Mail-bag catcher and deliverer



w. P. MCCORD. MIIILBIIG CATCHEB lAND DELIVERER. APPLICATION FILED NOV. I2, I9I9.

Mw www W. P; MCCORD.A

MAIL BAG cATcHER AND DELIVERER. APPLICATION FILED NON. I2. 1919.

Pmi/wa Marl 14,1922.

2 SHEETS-SHEET 2.

wir@ Sterre wILnIAivrr.vivrcoonpgornnrlrrs, frEivnuissnn i" Main-Bae serenita Ann Diirivnnnnf lineages.

i Specification of 'i'.ettersPatentiV Applicationled November 12,1919. Serial No. 337,466.

To all whom t may concern;

Be it known that I, :VILLIAM VBli/ICCRDQ "use in ,connection with railwayvmail service for causing the transfer of mail `between al rapidly moving car anda xedfcrane at the side of the. track.`` Y The principal object of the inventionisto fprovide bothg'vthe VInail V car and the track.

crane? each with receiving and delivering arms,- harng devices 01.1 the ends thereofgof simple construction and positive action for' insuring {the}4 kpositive transfer of the mail safzks ,or bags from one tothe other offsaid' deii'ces, thereceving armo one Q0Operating''v with the ,delivery arm of the other,' Eto insure Sack in the-propel'.

the` transfer of `the mail direction.

Another object' toV so carried apparatus thatit maybefl'quickly A Vprojected and retracted and Whenretract'ed Willioccu'py amnmiirriamountf 'Space and be, Vposiitionjed where Ait is' ,completely outvv .of j theyway ofthe mail clerk.` Y l another Obj est .0,5 the invention is te. 'PrO-- videtlie vdelivery arm, both. Yo f-the car ,ape

paratus and thetrackcrane with eicient mechanism for holding a Vmail sackuntil it is to be delivered and then releasing the samewithout trouble` and danger -of being caught o1' hungon the delivery arm, also to provide receiving devices on the proper armsy of the car apparatus and track crane that will catch andhold the vmail sacks as theyare present-edby the delivery arm and prevent'all possibility of accidental displacement after they have been receivedby the proper member. l

With the vforegoing andother objects in view, whicliwill appear as the description proceeds, the invention resides intheconr' bination and arrangement ofparts; ,andin the details of construction hereinafter described and claimed, it being understood that changes in the precise embodiment of theinvention hereindisclosed vmay be made within the scope of what is `claimed without departing from the spirit of the .invention dln vthe accompanying drawings: l

vFigure ljis a sectional Velevation of a ing and Adelivering apparatus operatively positioned with respect to the receiving and delivering apparatus at the station or at anv point along the cent the track.

Fig. 2 is a horizontal section through the portion ofthe vcar showing a top plan View` of the apparatus constituting .this invention.

n porv tion of a car showing the car carried receivside of the road bed adje;

erica.

, Patented Mar, ia, lege;

VF ig. 3 is an en largeddetail sectional View Y takenon the line of F ig. `l. i f

.'Fig. d is an'end levationofthe car carried mechanism Fig. ,5is'a transverse Asectioniof a portion kof the station of Fig. 2. Y

paratns is' secured in :position by means-of a crane ta-ken onithe line 5 -5 vI nthe embodiment' illustratedv aiporti'ong of aimail'car lis shown yhaving adooriopeny ing 2 in one sidewalland abovesaid :openingv f is mountedgthe 'car carried v.apparatus con'-v stituting a part ofV this invention. This lap-1'A aber@ the doer .Openings a .bracket beine l elrensedlin Connection -thereWithtO assist! in ,holdiilg-the apparatus/1. Carried bythe casting `S-is'a sleeve hwhicli extends into they Y car laterally fr omthe ysidewall thereof and is'designed to containbearing ballsjlocated f i mero-.ores 7 Carredbran arm 16 asisishown clearly in F 1g. Thisfarrn 6 may be yo f to thedistance itv is. 'designed to project the baci receiving and delivering ymembers.V

n elbow shaped lever 8' is pivotally corinected atv one endwith kthe inner end of the sliding arm 6, as is shownclearly in Fig. l. The freevendofthis lever has an yoperating xy anysuitalole orvv desired lengthfpaccording element` in the form of a cordf'9 depending` A i therefrom into position convenient to the mail clerk and which is designed for actuating the apparatus in a mannerpresentlyto bejdescribed. Projecting upwardlyr from the sleeve 4, is anv arm 10, the free endof which extendsbeyond' the .rear end. of the sleeve and is slotted for passage there through .of the inner or pivotedarmfof `the lever -8. A- coiled spring lllis connected at one end to an upstanding lug 12 carriedby the inner end of arin l0 Yandthe other end of said spring is engaged with an `eye 13 carried-by the elbow vof lever i8. This spring 11 exerts its tension to normally retract arm 6 and to return it to retracted position after it has been projected by pull exerted on the member 9. l

Secured to and depending from the front end of arm 6 is a bar or standard 14 which carries at its lower end laterally projecting arms 15 and 20, the arm 15 being positioned in a plane above the arm 2O and extending in a direction opposite thereto, both of these arms being designed to extend parallel with the car 1 as is shown clearly in Fig. 2. The arm 15 which is the bag delivery member of the car carried apparatus has three longitudinally extending fingers or tines carried thereby and vnumbered 16, 17 and 18 respectively, the central tine 17 being rectilinear while the other two are oilset downwardly at their inner ends as shown at 19 in Fig. 4. This oiiset portion of the tines 16l and 18 is designed to form a seat for the mail bag carrying hoop 22 as is shown clearly in Fig. '/1, the central tine 17 being resilient and operating to yieldably hold hoop 22 engaged with its seat.-

The arm 20 which constitutes they bagrre-Y ceiving member of the car 'carried apparatusV has an inturned hook or bill 21 at its :tree

end positioned on the top thereof as is shown clearly in Figs. 2 and 4 and which is designed to pass through the hoop ofthe bag to be delivered from the station crane and to hold it engaged therewith after-'it is delivered. Y f

ably composed of heavy wire and has a loop 23 to receive the mailbag B, the upper end of said loop being curved inwardly and adapted to be engaged'by a clamping ring 24V-to securely-hold said loop closed after the bag has beenplaced therein, as is shown clearly in Figs.1 and 2. A station' crane 25 is ation with the car carried crane and is shown mounted on-asuitable base 26 preferably composed of concrete, although not necessarily so. Rising from this base 26 is a standard' 27 having a bearin 28 intermediate of its ends, on which is c esigned to rest and rotate a substantiallyV inverted U shaped member 29, through the cross bar of which the standard 27 extends, said standard forming a journal for said member. The free ends of the member 29 diverl e at apoint substantially midway their en s as shown at 29a and are secured toa cross bar 30 mounted to rotate on the upper end of standard 27.

The cross bar 30 has arms 31 hingedly connected therewith and adapted to fold Hat thereon when not in use. These hinged members 31 each carries at its 'terminal a pair of laterally extending spaced ngers 32 which are designed to support the mail bag B to be delivered to the car carried train and another ringer 33 extends laterally from the opposite side edge of each member 31 and designed for cooper- 29 has bearings 35 formed in the legs thereof adjacent the inner ends of the diverging portions 29?. These bearings are designed to receive a locking pin 36 which extends,

through them and through a registering bearing 37 carried by the standard 27,' said pin having a handley 38 to facilitateits insertion and removal. This pin is designed,

when positioned in the bearing as shown in Fig. 1, to lock the cross bar against turn# ing; and when it is desired to reverse the cross bar t o position it for cooperation with a car carrie in the opposite direction, the pin 36 is with: drawn and the member '29 rotated, ycarrying withl it'y the Ycross bar 30, and -whenthese apparatus on a train coming parts have been reversed'the pin isagain in-V f ino'.

portedby the finger 32 of the station crane is similar inconstruction toV the hoop 22, the only difference beingthat it is mounted f. differently on the crane, the hoop portion The mail bag carrying hoop 22 is prefer-A being positioned above the crane and the bag ycarrying loop y23 below it as is shown' The bag carrying hoop 39, which is/sup'- serted and'locks them securely against turnwhich is the projected position of the car icar L rying crane, after the train reaches thesta-f tion the mail clerk in the car 1 releases the' member 9 which has been'fdrawn downto project the bag carrying member andthe 6 so that the mail bag carried therebywill be swung into the doorway of the rcar where it may be conveniently removed by the mail car clerk.

Itis, of course, to be understood that when a train approaches a station equipped with on which causes the arm 6 carrying the mail coiled spring 11 operates to retract thearm vv1 iio bag to be delivered to shoot outwardlyl into *i position and cooperate withY the station carried crane and immediately they member 9 is released it is retracted in the manner above set forth.

By constructing-this apparatus as shown and described it may be used for effectively and reliably receiving and delivering mail for any train, be it fast or slow, without danger of injuring the apparatus or Vthe mail sack. y

From the foregoing description, taken in said spring.

connection with the accompanying drawings, the advantages of the construction and of the method of operation will be readily apparent to those skilled in the art to which the invention appertains and while I have described the principle of operation of the invention together with the device which I now consider to be the best embodiment thereof, I desire to have it understood that the device shown is merely illustrative and that such changes may be made as are within the scope of the claimed invention.-

Having thus fully described my invention what I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent is:

l. In a mail bag delivery apparatus, a bar mounted to be projected and retracted laterally of a railway car, a coil spring connected to retract said bar and retain it normally in retracted position, and a lever connected to project the bar againstthe tension of 2. In a mail bag delivery apparatus, a bearing carried by a carfa bar mounted to slide in said bearing and to extend laterally from the car when in projected position, delivery and catching arms carried by said bar, an elbow shaped lever fulcrumed at one end inside said car, aV slotted arm carried by said bearing lthrough 'which' the pivoted arm of said lever extendspa coil I spring connected with the elbow of said lever, and with said bearing, and means'for actuating said lever to project said bar against the tension of said spring.

3. In ay mail ba deliveryvapparatus, a sliding bar mounte to be projected.l and re# tracted laterally relative to va car, `a mem'-` berdepending from the front end of said bar7 oppositely projecting delivery and saidmember,'the catching arm having at its free end an inturned hooked memberon its upper face and the delivery arm ,comprising` a plurality of longitudinally extending tines,

' one of which is resilient to clamp a mail bag hoop between them.

V4o catching arms rcarried by lthe lower endofV In testimony whereof I aiix my lsignature A v A FRED HENDORE. Y 

